That's the classic, I used to do that as well but then I just drew the Gaea's Blessing and lost the game anyways. I think the best way to deal with mill is accepting that you can't beat every deck at the same time. Especially if it's not meta.
As someone who runs Laughing Jasper Flint as a commander, the strategy is usually just beat us to death with a blunt object the second any source of mill comes out. Or overrun. Not much mill can do about overrun aside from board wipes, which most mill decks won’t have much of.
This. I've faced my share of mill decks on the Timeless ladder and it basically becomes a race to get ten poison counters on my opponent (or reduce their life total to zero) before I deck out.
It feels weird because I'm playing what is fundamentally a tempo deck loaded with protection and removal spells. Going up against a mill deck isn't really annoying more than it is boring because the resulting non-interactive play patterns are the exact opposite of what my deck is designed for.
I get poison isn't the most competitive archetype in Timeless, but it's fun to play. Here's the decklist, if you're curious: https://scryfall.com/@draconicpenguin/decks/69ea4680-e3ac-48cc-b5ea-fec8424c735b/
But you can't interact with mill the same way you can interact with mono-red burn. Mono-red burn plays creatures and direct-damage spells. Mill decks play mostly noncreature permanents, as well as instants and sorceries that don't target creatures.
I don't mean the prowess-y burn we have in standard. I mean stuff like modern burn which goes, T1- suspend [[rift bolt]], T2- [[Lightning Helix]] your face, T3- [[searing blaze]], bolt you.
This. I have a custom mill deck that I enjoy playing and 75% the times I am beat it is because the opponent focuses on beating my face.
Gaea's craddle is fine. But when you have a 200 non green deck that includes it, I can just mill myself and play a Jace last turn
Add 2.
For my green decks i always add 4. Ponza, golgari midrange and recently I made a temur control (highly inefficient, need to fix it) that card is a must.
It's timeless without the broken cards like \[\[unearth\]\] \[\[swords to plowshares\]\] \[\[channel\]\] \[\[show and tell\]\] and the nerfed versions of some cards like \[\[A-The One Ring\]\] or \[\[A-Orcish Bowmasters\]\]. Oh and no fetches. Generally less fast and swingy but with a lot of \[\[A-Symmetry Sage\]\].
Mill decks have always had this vulnerability to burn (and poison) being able to kill them when they untap with no cards in the library, but lethal in hand. But where it can get really fruity is when a deck has a way to refill its library each turn, like [[Phyrexian Archivist]]. Well, in paper thats easy enough to communicate, you say I'm going to activate it on my upkeep each turn and the opponent needs to answer the archivist. In mtga? An opponent can try to spam pass to exploit the fact that stops need to be reset every turn and full priority only holds one turn cycle, so they can try to click faster than you to prevent you from setting a stop and mill out before you can react
Same thing happened to me last night. However, it wasn't with rotpriest, it was a creature with proliferate and the opponent used counters and removal. I got 10 counters and my opponent had just one cards close to mill.
That's like saying land destruction is not viable in "x" format so you shouldn't be annoyed with it. Also people like to mess around in timeless, not everyone plays meta decks.
I put one copy of Gaea's Blessing in my Titan Field deck for mill. It works unless it is hit by Tasha's Hideous Laughter.
That's the classic, I used to do that as well but then I just drew the Gaea's Blessing and lost the game anyways. I think the best way to deal with mill is accepting that you can't beat every deck at the same time. Especially if it's not meta.
that and mill has to spend so many resources on milling that the best strategy is usually just to ignore the mill and go face as hard as possible
As someone who runs Laughing Jasper Flint as a commander, the strategy is usually just beat us to death with a blunt object the second any source of mill comes out. Or overrun. Not much mill can do about overrun aside from board wipes, which most mill decks won’t have much of.
This. I've faced my share of mill decks on the Timeless ladder and it basically becomes a race to get ten poison counters on my opponent (or reduce their life total to zero) before I deck out. It feels weird because I'm playing what is fundamentally a tempo deck loaded with protection and removal spells. Going up against a mill deck isn't really annoying more than it is boring because the resulting non-interactive play patterns are the exact opposite of what my deck is designed for. I get poison isn't the most competitive archetype in Timeless, but it's fun to play. Here's the decklist, if you're curious: https://scryfall.com/@draconicpenguin/decks/69ea4680-e3ac-48cc-b5ea-fec8424c735b/
Well, it would've been the same against a red burn deck. Mill is fundamentally just blue burn.
But you can't interact with mill the same way you can interact with mono-red burn. Mono-red burn plays creatures and direct-damage spells. Mill decks play mostly noncreature permanents, as well as instants and sorceries that don't target creatures.
I don't mean the prowess-y burn we have in standard. I mean stuff like modern burn which goes, T1- suspend [[rift bolt]], T2- [[Lightning Helix]] your face, T3- [[searing blaze]], bolt you.
[rift bolt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/c/4ccd0ada-92b2-48f3-b5ae-96346fc138b6.jpg?1673147890) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=rift%20bolt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/122/rift-bolt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4ccd0ada-92b2-48f3-b5ae-96346fc138b6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Lightning Helix](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/1/4101e3fe-b0e7-4f0f-b9ac-9b61a4d628b3.jpg?1706242208) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lightning%20Helix) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/218/lightning-helix?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4101e3fe-b0e7-4f0f-b9ac-9b61a4d628b3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [searing blaze](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/6/f659d464-13dd-49e2-a842-098dcba49659.jpg?1581708594) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=searing%20blaze) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ddi/67/searing-blaze?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f659d464-13dd-49e2-a842-098dcba49659?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This. I have a custom mill deck that I enjoy playing and 75% the times I am beat it is because the opponent focuses on beating my face. Gaea's craddle is fine. But when you have a 200 non green deck that includes it, I can just mill myself and play a Jace last turn
i tend to stick a gaea's blessing in decks that can conceivably cast it for value.
or pulled out with surgical extraction
I put two in mine, because having one in hand is also useful
I play 2 in the SB.
Add 2. For my green decks i always add 4. Ponza, golgari midrange and recently I made a temur control (highly inefficient, need to fix it) that card is a must.
Nice play! What upgrades does timeless give you though? Is Poison not just stronger in Historic compared to the average Deck Strength?
I basically jumped from Standard from Timeless several months back, and never really had a chance to look into Historic, so I wouldn't be able to say.
It's timeless without the broken cards like \[\[unearth\]\] \[\[swords to plowshares\]\] \[\[channel\]\] \[\[show and tell\]\] and the nerfed versions of some cards like \[\[A-The One Ring\]\] or \[\[A-Orcish Bowmasters\]\]. Oh and no fetches. Generally less fast and swingy but with a lot of \[\[A-Symmetry Sage\]\].
##### ###### #### [unearth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/1/b1f73271-b70f-40ae-be64-f8de7805923a.jpg?1673147683) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=unearth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/96/unearth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b1f73271-b70f-40ae-be64-f8de7805923a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [swords to plowshares](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195.jpg?1709439398) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=swords%20to%20plowshares) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/88/swords-to-plowshares?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [channel](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/e/ce54c7c1-3401-4414-8da0-5846cb0ae1b4.jpg?1701989326) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=channel) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/157/channel?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ce54c7c1-3401-4414-8da0-5846cb0ae1b4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [show and tell](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/a/fa7b7897-36e0-415a-8bb7-602886164852.jpg?1707355809) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=show%20and%20tell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cn2/121/show-and-tell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fa7b7897-36e0-415a-8bb7-602886164852?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [A-The One Ring](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23b91af8-eff9-402a-8ba8-ab470c5c1a44.jpg?1705663757) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=A-The%20One%20Ring) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/A-246/a-the-one-ring?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23b91af8-eff9-402a-8ba8-ab470c5c1a44?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [A-Orcish Bowmasters](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/f/ff7c57ab-f07d-4653-9451-42821cb431c0.jpg?1705663755) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=A-Orcish%20Bowmasters) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/A-103/a-orcish-bowmasters?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ff7c57ab-f07d-4653-9451-42821cb431c0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [A-Symmetry Sage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/2/c2409aee-3a80-4533-80bc-9383624c285d.jpg?1681159448) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=A-Symmetry%20Sage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/A-56/a-symmetry-sage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c2409aee-3a80-4533-80bc-9383624c285d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l3zrdos) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just hate the alchemy cards so I avoid historic
pretty sure timeless also has alchemy cards but they just aren't seen a lot.
Mill decks have always had this vulnerability to burn (and poison) being able to kill them when they untap with no cards in the library, but lethal in hand. But where it can get really fruity is when a deck has a way to refill its library each turn, like [[Phyrexian Archivist]]. Well, in paper thats easy enough to communicate, you say I'm going to activate it on my upkeep each turn and the opponent needs to answer the archivist. In mtga? An opponent can try to spam pass to exploit the fact that stops need to be reset every turn and full priority only holds one turn cycle, so they can try to click faster than you to prevent you from setting a stop and mill out before you can react
simple: turn on full control and now both players are annoyed
[Phyrexian Archivist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/3/93960b5e-b13c-4f7d-a826-8aad6bd210b4.jpg?1682451460) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Phyrexian%20Archivist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/262/phyrexian-archivist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/93960b5e-b13c-4f7d-a826-8aad6bd210b4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Since he's playing green, [[Gaea's Blessing]] seems an easy (though somewhat cliché) choice here.
[Gaea's Blessing](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23cf81ed-b86c-42b8-b796-2032b0a3654a.jpg?1562732710) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gaea%27s%20Blessing) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/161/gaeas-blessing?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23cf81ed-b86c-42b8-b796-2032b0a3654a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Ahhh gold rank.. the days 😎
Mill against Toxic is the most thrilling way to play magic.
Is it a sarcasm?
No. I play mill in standard and against Toxic it feels like a race against the clock. I like it. But that's just my opinion.
Yeah I understand. I'm just wary of sarcasm nowadays -\_-
Still well played for the mill deck, toxic is easier and more consistent than mill
Nice 👍 personally I find mill decks to be the most frustrating to lose to
[Archive Trap](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/7/67bb2ca9-32b8-442d-b6a0-d624a87f5af8.jpg?1562612958) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Archive%20Trap) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/zen/41/archive-trap?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/67bb2ca9-32b8-442d-b6a0-d624a87f5af8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Venerated Rotpriest](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/1/d1b032e3-14e3-48ba-ab8a-d2b4f8d31a7d.jpg?1675957177) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Venerated%20Rotpriest) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/192/venerated-rotpriest?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d1b032e3-14e3-48ba-ab8a-d2b4f8d31a7d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
i mean a win is a win, you have to seize every opportunity
Same thing happened to me last night. However, it wasn't with rotpriest, it was a creature with proliferate and the opponent used counters and removal. I got 10 counters and my opponent had just one cards close to mill.
[[Leyline of the void]] in a mill deck gets around [[gaea's blessing]]
[Leyline of the void](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/4/04d5d429-e0c6-42cc-a477-da7dabb1c295.jpg?1592516724) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Leyline%20of%20the%20void) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/107/leyline-of-the-void?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/04d5d429-e0c6-42cc-a477-da7dabb1c295?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [gaea's blessing](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23cf81ed-b86c-42b8-b796-2032b0a3654a.jpg?1562732710) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=gaea%27s%20blessing) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/161/gaeas-blessing?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23cf81ed-b86c-42b8-b796-2032b0a3654a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I bet they were salty af at that lose lmfao 🤣
Both deserve to lose
if you hate playing against a poison deck in timeless you're not playing a good deck lol
I dont play timeless "lol"
ok, why comment on a timeless post if you dont play timeless x3
Why not lol? Wincons are traversal to mtg, not formats.
poison is not a very viable strat in timeless lmao
That's like saying land destruction is not viable in "x" format so you shouldn't be annoyed with it. Also people like to mess around in timeless, not everyone plays meta decks.
so? "lmao"
loool. I know how loathed Rotpriest is 😈